Former Wolcott Official Is Indicted In Scandal

Former Wolcott Official Indicted In Waterbury Scandal

October 03, 1992|By MIKE McINTIRE; Courant Staff Writer

WATERBURY — A former Wolcott town councilman and banker was indicted Friday for his alleged role in the municipal corruption scandal that led to the conviction of Waterbury Mayor Joseph J. Santopietro in April.

Vinal S. Duncan, once a Democratic mayoral candidate in Wolcott and vice chairman of the now-defunct Security Savings and Loan, was charged with five counts of bank fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion. Federal prosecutors also are moving to seize $48,500 that they say Duncan stole from Security Savings.

The charges stem from the collapse of Security Savings last year and the corruption case against Santopietro, who is serving an eight-year sentence on 18 felony convictions. Prosecutors say Duncan was one of three developers who benefited from a bribery ring that operated out of Waterbury city hall during Santopietro's three terms as mayor.

Duncan pleaded not guilty to all the charges in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport Friday morning and was released on a $75,000 bond. The charges, all felonies, carry a combined maximum prison term of about 30 years.

Duncan could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Ira A. Grudberg of New Haven, said Duncan's former banking partners unjustly accused Duncan to save themselves.

"This is a case where the government uses the sharks to testify against the minnows," Grudberg said. "There's no connection between Vinal and Santopietro or any of those people."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Holly B. Fitzsimmons declined to comment.

Prosecutors described Duncan, 62, as one of three central conspirators in the case against Santopietro, his brother and five political associates. The other two were Richard D. Barbieri Sr., Security Savings' founder and president, and John A. Corpaci, the bank's executive vice president, prosecutors said.

Barbieri and Corpaci pleaded guilty to paying more than $175,000 in bribes to Santopietro and others in return for city

assistance with real estate developments in Waterbury. The two bankers are continuing to cooperate with investigators.

Prosecutors say Duncan was a partner with Barbieri and Corpaci in at least 12 investment groups and corporations that were used to funnel bribes to public officials in Waterbury. Duncan, Barbieri and Corpaci also are accused of using Security Savings to finance fraudulent land deals in which they had a concealed interest.

"The developers sought and obtained numerous favorable determinations from agencies of the city of Waterbury, including the city plan commission, the zoning commission, the water department and the fire marshal," the government says in its 42-page indictment of Duncan.

The former owner of a company that produced metal fasteners, Duncan became a full-time investor and real estate agent after joining the board of Security Savings in 1980. In the early 1980s he was a Democratic town councilman in Wolcott, where he was once a mayoral candidate and served as treasurer on several campaigns for the current mayor, Edward S. Wilensky.

Duncan moved to Florida shortly after he resigned from Security Savings in July 1990.

An indictment unsealed Friday details about 10 different transactions through which the government says Duncan illegally profited and often failed to declare the income on his tax returns.

In one complicated land deal, prosecutors say Duncan, Barbieri and three other members of Security Savings' board, including Chairman Mario Albini, secretly profited from the sale of property to the bank. The bankers are accused of having a front man buy the property for $200,000 and reselling to Security Savings for a $135,000 profit.

The land, on Meriden Road in Waterbury, became the site of a Security Savings branch office